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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Today is a special day for us. It's the day when H and I pledged our undying love for each other. A day that I will always remember. These past years have honestly flown by! It doesn't even feel like it's been that long, yet here we are with soon-to-be three girls, and a lifetime of memories. No big plans tonight other than possibly going out to eat with the girls, but H is taking off Friday and Monday so we might do something this weekend to celebrate. Today is also my parent's anniversary.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The colors for my wedding were pink, white, and champagne so naturally I wanted simple pink and ivory roses with greenery for my venue flowers and bouquets. I also wanted to save some money so I bought bulk flowers online and did the table settings myself. For the bouquets, I had a professional do those. We had a 5:00 pm ceremony time so on the day of the wedding, I was at the venue decorating. I'm sort of a control freak like that sometimes. I had help though so it didn't take me too long.

I absolutely loved my cake. The pastry chef did an amazing job at replicating a picture I had given him. It wasn't exact which was a good thing. It looked even better than I had envisioned.

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The stairwell leading up to the venue also looked amazing. The same florist that did the bouqets, also added some pretty touches throughout the venue and balcony.

Tell me, were there things you did yourself for your wedding or plan on doing? Did or do you plan on hiring a wedding coordinator?

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

When I started thinking about the perfect wedding dress for me, I knew I wanted something that wasn't too fussy, too sexy, or too plain. I wanted something classic and something graceful. I also wanted it to have a long train. I looked for ideas on the internet and one Saturday headed to the first place I knew nearby--Alfred Angelo. I know, I know...they are pretty common and a chain, but I fell in love with a dress. I put a deposit on it that day without going to any others. The dress was just me.

I did make some alterations to it though. I had a seamstress cut a sweetheart neckline and attach hooks on the back so I could pin up the train later. I wish that I hadn't had sew in some cups into the dress. The cups were too thick and it just felt unnatural.

Here are some other details of the whole ensamble.

Hair & Makeup

For my hair I knew that I wanted to wear it half up and half down with some volume up top. I really liked my trial hair, and my wedding hair, but they were both different and I liked the way it looked for my trial best.

For makeup, I kept it pretty simple. I wanted to look photo-ready but also wanted to feel like me. I found a local makeup artist who came to my house to do my makeup. This was the trial.

Looking back there are some changes I would have made, but very few. I loved my wedding and all the planning that went into it. I really couldn't of asked for it to have gone any better...

Tell me, did you like your wedding dress, or do you sometimes wish you would have gone with something different?

Monday, September 24, 2012

My wedding anniversary is this Thursday 9/27/12, so I thought it would neat to do a wedding series this whole week. Here is how it will be broken down:

Monday: The proposal

Tuesday: Planning part 1 {dress, hair, makeup}

Wednesday: Planning part 2 {flowers, decor, music, cake}

Thursday: The wedding

Friday: Honeymoon

I hope you'll tune in and share aspects of your wedding too!

The proposal

Years ago, H and I got engaged at the Hotel Monaco in Seattle, Washington. We had been to Washington twice before and fell in love with it. It's sooooo beautiful there. On this particular trip we actually went to Victoria, BC first and then came back down to Seattle. Truth be told, I wondered if he was going to propose on this trip. We had briefly talked about marriage before and I had a feeling he had bought a ring several weeks before. Our trip lasted for 4 days and on the last day there, he hadn't popped the question so I figured it wasn't going to happen. So on the last night, I remember filling out our breakfast card for the next day and then going to sleep. I woke up early around 7am and got up to brush my teeth. I noticed right away that there was a diamond on my finger! I squealed like a little girl and raced back to H and snuggled up to him.

He stroked my hair telling me how beautiful I was a few times and asked me to marry him. Sighh... Such a beautiful moment. If only we could go back in our heads and relive certain memories. We didn't take any pictures that morning but we do have quite a few--ok a lot from the trip. Unfortunately those are on the upstairs computer and I'm too lazy to blog from there because the computer screen is also a TV in the armoire which means there's no chair in front of it. However I've got a disc of all my wedding photos here in front of me.

Here is the ring..including our wedding bands. He picked out a perfect princess cut diamond for me. He knows I like classic elegance so naturally I loved it.

So tell me, where/how did your significant other propose? Let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear about it.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

I entered Pregnancy Magazine's baby bump contest last month and I found out yesterday evening that I won! I received an email from the publisher informing me I was the winner and I'd be getting a Cybex stroller! They made the annoucement on their Facebook page, put me on their Facebook cover and the pics I submitted are on their Pinterest page.

I never win anything. Well I never really enter online contests, just blog giveaways, but I never win those ha-ha. This totally made my week especially since everyone in this house including myself has been sick and not getting much sleep.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Get to the hospital, have the baby as comfortable as possible, go home. The end.

Simple huh? Oh if only...

With my first, I didn't have a plan. I was just a naive 20 yr old but ultimately my first was the fastest and easiest labor. I remember I had been having some braxton hicks contractions around noon that day, and my stomach felt weird but I chalked it up to eating a bad cheeseburger at McDonald's. Around 9 pm that night I felt the first pangs of labor and we got to the hospital at about 10:45. I had a great epidural and had Serena around 1:00 in the morning after 25 minutes of pushing. However I found the pushing hard because I couldn't feel anything. The nurse would yell at me to push but I didn't know how or had the sensation.

The next time around I told myself that I wanted to try a med-free birth because I thought it might make the pushing easier. Basically I wanted to feel everything. Mind you this was 8 years later when I started thinking these crazy thoughts. With Layla last year I had a much longer labor. About 16 hours and roughly about 20 minutes of pushing. I held out on an epidural but still think I got it too early and it didn't work right on me so for the last 7 hours of labor, I felt everything and I do mean everything. You can read Layla's birth story here if you haven't already.

Soooo....now as I approach giving birth for the third time, I'm thinking I'm going to do things more on my terms. Granted I'm not induced like last time--I'm going to try and labor at home for awhile, and I'm going to get an epidural. I'm going to bring some music to listen to and maybe get up off the bed if I want to. Both times before I felt pressured and bullied by my labor nurses. I had some great nurses at certain times but when it came to giving birth, I ended up with a mean nurse. Maybe I was their last patient, not sure, but my doctors were awesome.

So tell me, if you are pregnant, or even if you're not yet, do you have a birth plan in mind? Let me know.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Are you feeling like frolicking through the grass barefoot like Julie Andrew's in the sound of music yet?

No?

That's ok. I don't either, but this picture of Layla always makes me smile. I use it on my website www.fhjbaby.com which by the way, not too long ago I released boy bibs as well as gender neutral bibs if you haven't seen yet. Shamless plug.

I haven't blogged since last Wednesday which is awhile for me. Honestly I've been tired and I got stumped last week. This just tends to happen sometimes. I'm sure if you blog, you can relate. Blogging is an outlet for me, but at the same time I like my content to at least be a little interesting. I don't like to post just for the sake of getting something out there if you know what I mean.

Lately I've been busy trying to grow my business which is fun and exciting. However, physically I've noticed I'm moving slower by the week. That's expected as I near my due date. Speaking of which, I'm getting ANXIOUS you guys! Another thing that's common towards the end. I'm starting to get more uncomfortable but I know I'm going to miss being pregnant. I'm going to miss the round bump, the kicks, the way my husband cradles my belly and goes "Oh!" everytime the baby moves. Random conversations that stem from strangers noticing the bump is also nice too. I haven't quite reached the point where I'm like "get this baby out of me!" That usually happens around 37 weeks.

By the way, I get to see the baby this Thursday! I haven't had an ultrasound since 21 weeks where we found out the sex. Apparently my OB thinks that my fundal height is measuring small for almost 33 weeks (which is where I was last Thursday). She only measured my belly with her fingers not the tape measure so I have a feeling she's off. I'm measuring more like 28 weeks is what she said--so we need to check on the growth. I find that odd because my belly is big. It feels big!

My other camera slims me down when I take pics outside. It's partly the dresses fault but I have gone into full blown tent mode. This is why I prefer fitted dresses and tops. It looks like twins in there.

It's also the same size as with Layla and I was always measuring 2 cm ahead in fundal height. So we'll see what they say on Thursday. I'm not too worried about it, but obviously doctors have the ability to put thoughts in your head that you didn't have before. I just want the baby to be healthy.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Total weight gain: Not sure. I have a scale here at home but I haven't weighed myself lately. I have to say I'm quite pleased with my body this pregnancy. Not that I'm watching my weight of course but I haven't gotten the chunky upper arms and face that I got last pregnancy. Then again...it's not over yet.Maternity clothes? Yes some. I'm really running out of things to wear, even some of my maternity shirts are getting short and I'm not fitting into even more pants. Stretch marks? No new ones this pregnancy. Confession. I don't lotion up my stomach every night. I probably only do it about 3 times a week. Yet I religiously lotion my arms and other stuff every night. Is it laziness about lifting up my top or nightgown? I have no idea. Sleep: It's been pretty good except I do have to get up at least once to use the restroom. During the day it feels like I'm in the restroom all the time!Best moment this week: It's been a great week. My body has felt pretty good and it's been an exciting week for me.--I totally re-used this from my last baby bump post.Miss Anything? I'm starting to miss being able to wear whatever I want. I see such adorable outfits out on the blogosphere and all I can do is look at them wistfully.Movement: Definitely!Food cravings: Nope.Food aversions: Ok I said I was going to be better about eating fruit. I didn't do so great this week. I maybe had a few grapes and half an apple. I have been drinking apple juice though. That counts right?Boy or girl: Girl!Labor Signs: No and I hope they stay away till 40 weeks. Symptoms: I was getting a lot of strong braxton hicks contractions off and on last week but they have calmed down. Also I have this weird pain on the top of my foot that has been hurting for almost 2 weeks.Belly Button in or out? Out I suppose.Wedding rings on or off? On.Looking forward to: Hopefully seeing my baby via ultrasound at my doctors appt tomorrow. I have another confession. I missed my last appointment and it's been about a month since I last saw my OB. I haven't even taken my glucose test yet. I've been pretty busy and didn't want to tote both girls with me and it's not so easy to have my mom come and watch them whenever I want.

In other exciting news, we got a new car. H traded in his for something bigger. It's a 7-8 passenger crossover SUV. He came home with it on Saturday and I love it. I'll have easy access to two carseats and Serena will be able to access the third row easily. It's becoming more real that our family is growing!

Monday, September 10, 2012

I hope everyone had a good weekend. The weather was just a bit cooler these past two days so it was nice to spend some time outside. Today I'm linking up again with Becky's blog frommrstomomma for Show & Tell Monday.

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1. Tell us your favorite baby names? Aside from your own babies, if you have some :)

Let's see my favorite names--aside from the names I picked for my girls are Isabella and Isaac. Honestly I'm stumped here because we had a hard time picking out names for the girls. I'm 32 weeks now and we don't even have a name for this baby yet.

2. Show me your "dream" nursery {can be your baby's nursery or one that you love}

This is a tough one. There are so many beautiful nurseries out there! Here are a couple I love though.

I love elegant nurseries. There are still more things I'd like to do to our nursery, but if you'd like to see some pictures go here

3. How many children would you like to have? How far apart?

Let's just say I never imagined having 3 children, or a pair that is only (going to be) 17 months apart. Crazy because we have an 8 yr gap between the first and the second. H wants this one to be the last one. I'm not sure yet. You'll have to ask me later after this one is born. I love being pregnant! It's a beautiful thing to experience life stirring within. They do grow up though, my 9 yr old is proof of that for me. It's a tough age right now and I hear it's just going to get harder. As much as I might want to have another, I don't know if I'm cut out to have a large family...at least without a nanny. Haha... My patience is not always that great and I like peace and quiet a lot of the time. It's also amazing experiencing life again through the eyes of a new human being that is familiarizing themselves with the world for the first time.

4. Tell us what you think the importance of parenting is?

I always feel like I'm not the best person to ask with questions like these because I consider myself still learning, but I suppose all of us as parents are constantly learning. I do know that it's important to be there for your kids and to encourage them. You are the one building their foundation. It has to be strong. Also, I know not everyone is a believer, but we believe in God and he is the center of our lives. I'm not saying we are the best at practicing our faith--heck I haven't been to church in a good few months, but God is still very much the ruler of my life and I strive to teach my kids to keep the faith and to remember that we are all answering to a higher being.

5. Show us your favorite newborn photo {can be your children or random}

Of course I'm going to show you one of Layla's pictures--which I've shown before. I don't have any newborn photos of Serena on this computer.

{Layla about 1 day old}

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6. Tell us some things you promise to never do as a parent {and if you are a parent, did you stick to it}

Before I became a parent, I didn't really think about these things. Sometimes I'm a learn as you go sort of person. I didn't read parenting books or attend any classes--rather I learned from watching others and remembered certain experiences from my childhood. I like to think of myself as a pretty good mom. Maybe a bit paranoid and overbearing at times, but I love my girls and I just never want to see them hurt. I've made mistakes, but again I'm still learning and I can only learn from them. I do know that I never want my children to fear me or H. I remember at times when I was younger, a person just had to raise their arm swiftly and I would flinch and almost duck a little involuntarily. My dad had a heavy hand and dished out the spankings freely so this stayed with me for a long time, and I remember how it made me feel. I knew then that I didn't want my future children to feel that way.

Gah. So before we get to heavy, head on over to Becky's blog and visit all the other bloggers that linked up. ;)

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

On Monday we piled out of the house in the afternoon for some family fun. We headed out to the Houston Children's Museum and the girls had a blast! It had been awhile since we did something fun as a family. I mean we spend a lot of time together but when we go out it's either to dinner, gathering at friend's houses, or over to my in-laws or parent's for dinner. We hadn't done something "different" in quite some time.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Happy Labor Day! Today I'm actually participating in a link up. Check out Becky's blog and all the other bloggers who linked up to see their take on fall.

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1. Tell us what you are looking forward to this fall?

Honestly I'm so ready for this heat to be over--espeially with being pregnant and uncomfortable, but I live in Texas so who am I kidding? It's going to be hot all the way to mid December. I love fall but Spring is my favorite season. I love the layering, cardigans, boots, and scarves and fall, but I love Spring most for all the wardrobe choices.

I also like fall because that means the holiday's are coming! I love the decorating, seeing the leaves falling to the ground and just being able to spend more time outdoors.

2. Show us your fall style.

{Sadly, with a postpartum body after I have the baby in November, and two other girls to run after, I will probably be living in leggings, flowy tops and flat boots.}

3. Tell us your favorite things to do in fall. If you have children, activities to do with the kids?

Fall is going to be so fun this year because our family will be bigger. I'm looking forward to being outdoors a lot. Going to the pumpkin patch in October is fun as is making crafts with them. Also looking forward to decorating. About a month ago I already bought some Halloween decorations. Currently you can find Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations for cheap. You just have to buy them early.

5. Tell us how you will be participating in Halloween this year. Plans? Costume ideas?

I love Halloween, but considering Halloween is about two weeks before my due date, I don't see myself dressing up this year. Last year I also didn't but I had a lot going on and I was still working full time. The girls dressed up as Dorothy and a little lamb. I'm not sure what they are going to be this year but I'm on the hunt for ideas.

Yesterday I was at Michael's and I saw the cutest Halloween party decorations. I'd like to have a Halloween party this year but there is just too much going on. I'm trying to book a few craft shows so that means a lot of work and sewing so I don't want to overextend myself.

Welcome

Hi! I’m Francis. Wife and mother to four beautiful girls. Aside from being a stay at home mom, I’m also the founder and designer of FHJ Baby. I guess you can say my plate is full, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!